SAFE INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A18-084

Description

Occupants of ground combat vehicles are at risk of head injury when the vehicle is attacked by an underbody blast and its violent motion causes the head to strike the interior. Occupants are also at risk from spall – fragments of material liberated from the interior wall of the vehicle by shock waves or overmatched threats. Vehicles currently have interior liner panels for spall mitigation but lack adequate head protection. Safe, Inc. proposes to combine the spall liner and head protection system into a single solution. The planned work will demonstrate feasibility of the design through testing and Design of Experiments methods intended to reach the thinnest acceptable solution. Thin-ness is needed to avoid further confining the cramped interior space. The selected materials will meet all head impact, spall, acoustic, thermal, and flame, smoke, and toxicity requirements. The improved spall liner uses materials that are readily available at a low cost that will foster commercialization in the ground vehicle market. Safe’s project team has prior experience developing both ballistic and head impact systems for soldier protection.